State AG asks for grand jury in meningitis cases

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AG asks for grand jury in meningitis cases

By Jeff Broddle

CADILLAC — Patients see their doctors for relief, not to leave the office in worse condition.

Rebuilding the trust lost due to a breakout of meningitis deaths in the state is part of Attorney General Bill Schuette's goal in seeking the appointment of a grand jury to get to the bottom of what caused the outbreak.

According to Schutte, Michigan is in the crosshairs of the meningitis health emergency, having seen 17 residents die and 259 afflicted by some form of meningitis believed to have been caused by injections of a steroid contaminated by fungus. While the infection is not contagious, it's little comfort to those who have fallen ill or lost loved ones unexpectedly.

“It's a horrific problem," Schuette said. "People went into a clinic hoping to get relief, and instead excruciating pain and deaths occurred."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a multi-state outbreak of fungal meningitis and other infections in patients who received contaminated MPA steroid injections manufactured by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. The company voluntarily recalled all products compounded at the company's facility in Framingham, Mass.

Compounding centers don't create prescription drugs but may alter or combine them in a way that is helpful to the patient. That may include transforming a pill into a liquid form so it may be easily swallowed, for example. Schuette said procedures done at compounding centers should be done on an individual basis for each patient, but problems have arisen due to centers taking a mass production approach.

The attorney general's request for a grand jury to be seated is being considered by the Court of Appeals. If the court gives the grand jury a green light, a circuit court judge will be picked in one of the four counties where the tainted medicine was received, which includes Grand Traverse County. The judge would empanel 13 to 17 people to serve on the grand jury, Schuette said.

If that happens, the attorney general's office will assist the judge in issuing subpoenas in order to bring charges. Schutte declined to say who might be targeted, but said there will be a trial if the grand jury recommends criminal charges.

“The most important thing is we find the truth and find out what happened," he said. "If the grand jury recommends criminal charges, a trial would take place."

Knowingly administering tainted medicine, Schuette said, is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

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